Midday is a lyrical, poetic image, conveying the hot and sleepy atmosphere of the land under a noonday sun. The subject is a simple rural scene: in the foreground is the shoulder of a grassy hill and a clump of trees, with the Hawkesbury River and its valley beyond. Beside the decoratively twisted trees a shepherdess stands listlessly, minding her sheep in the heat of the day.

The winding path in the foreground leads the eye through the picture, as does the flowing river beyond. There is an expanse of airy, blue, cloud-filled sky. It is a sunny picture, with a breadth of treatment new to Long. It can be seen as the beginning of Long’s pastorals; the figure suggesting a young shepherdess in Arcadia, and also an embryonic Spirit of nature.

In Midday, in his composition and in the impressionistic application of paint, Long displayed a friendly rivalry with Arthur Streeton and his painting Cremorne pastoral 1895 (AGNSW), which Long would have viewed at the first exhibition of the Society of Artists in 1895. But Long’s palette of light greens and blues is softer and more tonal than Streeton’s. Both works also convey a similar open feeling.

Midday was first exhibited in the 1896 ‘Society of Artists exhibition’ (58), when it was purchased by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. It was well received in the Sydney press, with the critics full of praise for Long’s achievements. The reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald noted:

the rich harmonious colour of this pastoral scene and the fine massing of the foliage of the trees show how rapidly this talented young artist has ‘grown out of’ the juvenile exuberance of impressionism exhibited in his ‘Tranquil waters’… ‘Midday’ is so much more mature that it is no doubt worthy of its future place in the national collection.
(5 September 1896)

The critic for the Daily Telegraph observed:

Mr. Long’s ‘Midday’ shows greater maturity and richness of color and more poetic feeling than previous efforts … The trees are broadly and cleverly handled. (5 September 1896)

This commentator was the first to draw attention to the Streeton connection, remarking that ‘there is a faint suggestion of “Cremorne” in its treatment’.

Some years after the painting had been purchased, it was returned to Long for repairs and he repainted sections of the work.

Midday is a lyrical, poetic image, conveying the hot and sleepy atmosphere of the land under a noonday sun. The subject is a simple rural scene: in the foreground is the shoulder of a grassy hill and a clump of trees, with the Hawkesbury River and its valley beyond. Beside the decoratively twisted trees a shepherdess stands listlessly, minding her sheep in the heat of the day.

The winding path in the foreground leads the eye through the picture, as does the flowing river beyond. There is an expanse of airy, blue, cloud-filled sky. It is a sunny picture, with a breadth of treatment new to Long. It can be seen as the beginning of Long’s pastorals; the figure suggesting a young shepherdess in Arcadia, and also an embryonic Spirit of nature.

In Midday, in his composition and in the impressionistic application of paint, Long displayed a friendly rivalry with Arthur Streeton and his painting Cremorne pastoral 1895 (AGNSW), which Long would have viewed at the first exhibition of the Society of Artists in 1895. But Long’s palette of light greens and blues is softer and more tonal than Streeton’s. Both works also convey a similar open feeling.

Midday was first exhibited in the 1896 ‘Society of Artists exhibition’ (58), when it was purchased by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. It was well received in the Sydney press, with the critics full of praise for Long’s achievements. The reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald noted:

the rich harmonious colour of this pastoral scene and the fine massing of the foliage of the trees show how rapidly this talented young artist has ‘grown out of’ the juvenile exuberance of impressionism exhibited in his ‘Tranquil waters’… ‘Midday’ is so much more mature that it is no doubt worthy of its future place in the national collection.
(5 September 1896)

The critic for the Daily Telegraph observed:

Mr. Long’s ‘Midday’ shows greater maturity and richness of color and more poetic feeling than previous efforts … The trees are broadly and cleverly handled. (5 September 1896)

This commentator was the first to draw attention to the Streeton connection, remarking that ‘there is a faint suggestion of “Cremorne” in its treatment’.

Some years after the painting had been purchased, it was returned to Long for repairs and he repainted sections of the work.